committee, arguably the most powerful committee in the senate. the finance committee, quote, helps dictate how the government raises almost all of its money and spends nearly half of it. the other quality that makes max baucus such a ripe target for lobbying and people with an in to him so valuable is he is not an idealogue. say what you want he is in the center kind of. there is a tool political scientists use to score where lawmakers land on the left/right spectrum. with senators ranked in the 112 itth congress with number one being most liberal baucus landed at 45. only a handful of democrats ranked more conservative. here is max baucus occupying the lonelily and quickly evaporating center of american politics we all pine for, the center we all lament the vanishing of. the problem we all say in washington is we have these extremes, the left and the right, and they can t get together. here is max baucus in the